(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope apparatus, and more particularly to a microscope equipped with a sample macro observation or drawing attachment and a data imprinting device.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
The conventional microscope, for example, the microscope disclosed by Japanese Patent Preliminary Publication No. Sho 57-171302 comprises (1) a system for magnifying and projecting to a film surface a primary image formed by an objective lens and magnified by a variable power optical system, (2) a system for forming a secondary image by relaying said primary image and (3) a system for projecting said relayed secondary image as a ternary image again to the focal plane of the eyepiece lens, and is so formed as to arrange a scale, etc. at the first image position and a photo mask, etc. at the secondary image position. However, the microscope has drawbacks that it requires an image rotating prism and high manufacturing cost since the plane including the relay optical system is perpendicular to the optical axis of the objective lens. Further, the microscope is provided additionally with an optical system which permits observation of the primary image formed by the objective lens through the eyepiece lens for focusing and confirming photographing range at a stage of photographing, and is switchable, as occasion demands, with the optical system for observing the ternary image through the eyepiece lens. However, the microscope has problems that a photographed image deviates from the confirmed image since the image confirmed through the eyepiece lens is not photographed directly, and the microscope requires tedious procedures for switching said optical systems. Furthermore, the microscope has another shortcoming that at least one of the image observed through the eyepiece lens and the image formed on a photographing film or screen is a mirror image (image formed after reflections in an odd number of times), and the up-down or right-left direction of a sample is incorrectly photographed and characters on a sample cannot be read correctly.
Moreover, the macro observation or drawing attachment for the conventional microscope, for example, the attachment disclosed by Japanese Patent Preliminary Publication No. Sho 59-17521, is designed for use with a microscope having a fixed objective lens tube, and has a drawback that the microscope base body hinders the center of a large sample from being aligned with the objective lens when a sample to be subjected to the macro observation is large, thereby making it impossible to observe center of such a large sample. In addition, the conventional macro observation or drawing attachment has a problem that a large sample is hardly settable since the objective lens tube is located above the sample mounting stage. Further, the microscope has another shortcoming that its base has low operability due to the fact that the microscope base is located close to the objective lens tube. Furthermore, an image rotator is used for correcting image rotation in the optical system of the microscope, thereby complicating the composition and increasing manufacturing cost of the microscope.
Moreover, the conventional data imprinting device, for example, the one disclosed by Japanese Patent Preliminary Publication No. Sho 51-141624, is incapable of shifting an image on the film surface as occasion demands and inconvenient for practical use.